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A Guide to the City of Souls
You follow a small Sneasel wearing a sash of red, black, and yellow and a pair of red fingerless gloves. She leads you toward a rather odd looking city, it’s buildings and land seeming to float on islands of varying sizes inside of a large lake. Moving closer to the town you see it is impossible to reach without swimming or taking a boat to get to the city Inez Welcome to la Ciudad de las Almas, or, perhaps better known to you outsiders as the City of Souls and with good reason too. The name is a result partially because of the types of Pokemon who inhabit it; mainly Dark, Fairy,Ghost, and Psychic, and the fact that it winds up being the resting place for many souls but we’ll get into that later. For now, let’s just keep your ears on me and don’t attract any attention got it? Yes, I’m looking at you Mr. Knight in not so shining armour. Now before you water types try swimming over there you’d better have pretty good speed because the island is guarded by Sharpedos and Carvanas who wouldn’t mind a nice little snack from time to time. So to avoid that we’re taking a boat got it? She leads you and the rest of the group to several boats and once everyone is safely inside begins to move towards the land where large rectangular pyramids stand and multiple Pokemon can be seen following their day to day routines whether it be working in a marketplace or performing in the streets. The boat docks and after being checked by warriors of the emperor all are permitted to enter Inez Without further adieu, let’s begin. General Information: La Ciudada de las Almas is a large city located towards the center of the nation of Tonaltzintli and resides as if it’s almost floating in the center of a large lake which is greatly guarded by its aquatic warriors. Above ground it has an equally fearsome army to guard it which will be discussed a bit later. To call it merely a tribe may be rather incorrect considering its massive size and population, most of which is consumed by Pokemon in the Dark, Fairy,Ghost, and Psychic types though there are plenty of Pokemon outside of this typing. It is loosely based on the Aztec city of Tenochtitlan The City: As mentioned, the city rests in the center of a lake and with its water, moving through areas in the city itself many areas are accessible only by boat or sometimes only by foot. In the water around and in the city, there are so called, “floating gardens” formed from mud pulled from the ground far under the lake and are used for agriculture and even just to have pretty flowers outside of one’s home. The city houses many temples as well as a ball court though, the game they play there may not be too exciting for those new to the city (will explain later). There is also a grand palace home to the emperor of the time, the present one being a rather annoying Drapion. There is also a marketplace within the city not entirely unlike the one located in Aether only much larger where performing Pokemon can often be found singing or dancing or making fools of themselves (and occasionally others). Religion: Religion is a large part of life (and very often death) to those living in the city and its inhabitants are exceptionally superstitious and participate in many activities to keep their many, many gods pleased. Some of the most notable of these gods include Xerneas and Yvetal (who also happens to be their patron) which maintain life and growth and death and destruction respectively, Zygarde who prevents one of two from ever having greater influence than the other, and Shaymin, the one who seems the most out of place of the gods in that she is not only the smallest but who also just seems different from the powerful beings she is said to be like. She represents happiness. Now, as with many religions there are priests in place, quite often they are ghost types or psychic types, who are said to mediate between their gods and the Pokemon. They have various duties as one would expect but one of the most vital to their belief was to make sure that all the gods were pleased and to do this they would give offerings. Quite often these offerings were sacrifices of prisoners or even citizens themselves (scary huh?). While disturbing to those outside of their society it was just general life and was seen as essential to the survival of the world to shed blood for various reasons and each god demanded a certain amount (Yvetal requiring the most, Shaymin requiring the least). Now, as for how these sacrifices were chosen, well, remember that ball court mentioned? Two opposing teams would face off against one another in a game vaguely similar to soccer using a heavy rubber ball and the loser of the game would also lose their life…. On a nicer note, for those who did die, by sacrifice or other means, they had a strong belief that this life was not the end and death would just lead to a different way of living and they had celebrations to mark this such as Dia de Los Muertos (the day of the dead). Lastly, they often believe certain objects can hold mystical properties and many citizens including warriors will take these objects such as small knickknacks or even clothing like items like sashes to protect them. Hierarchy: The ruler of the city has alway been a powerful emperor often seen as a living god to their people and has nearly absolute power not so unlike the Pharohs of another land. The present emperor is Shiny Drapion who seems just as interested in war as his predecessors. Below the emperor is the earlier mentioned priests. After them are the warriors often consisting of either the most powerful Pokemon (such as Krokoroks) or the swiftest (such as Weaviles). Following them are the general nobles who despite being further on the list still hold a considerable influence. There are then the common Pokemon and finally after them the servants. Warriors and Weapons: As was written above, warriors hold a significant role in society as well as a crucial one. They are tasked with the defense of the city and its inhabitants as well as making sure the inhabitants don’t go around attacking each other as well. Typically they are dark types though they can be of any typing. Their role is determined based on how well they did during the many years they spent training, many starting before the age of ten. However, water types are almost always tasked with guarding the waters around the city. Other ways ranks were decided were based on how many prisoners a warrior captured, the more the higher the ranking would grow. And all of the warriors not guarding get called to fight in times of trouble especially during wars that emperors often drag them into. As for the weapons used, they are of course encouraged to use moves and other weapons such as claws and teeth, generic weapons included bows and arrows, various swords, and sometimes just blunt objects. Warriors though, have notoriously short lives due to dying in battles and wars unfortunately…. Though those who did were greatly honored and their lives celebrated. Family Relations: While men are typically the head of most things and the only ones allowed to achieve high roles such as being a warrior or priest, woman are able to contribute as well. They mostly maintain the market aspects and are the crafters and merchants and performers though men are able to fill these roles as well. Woman also have a large influence on their children of course and a woman whose son becomes a warrior is as honored as him. Regarding marriage, often times the father chooses who their child, son or daughter will marry and if their is no father the role falls to the mother who is usually much better at matchmaking and some husbands will just automatically leave the decision up to them because of this. Once married the couple will get their own house in the city and live out their lives. And yeah, that’s about it, feel free to join this nice little city or ask any questions you may have about it in the comments. ---- Guide written by: TheVioletVulpix Original post: A Guide to the City of Souls Category:Library